This question used to be a royal secret and kept secret.
The emperor likes "eating alone"
How does the emperor eat? Every dynasty has its own way of eating. The richness and collocation of meals also vary according to the emperor's tastes and preferences. At present, what we know more is the royal eating method in Ming and Qing Dynasties.
Not all emperors have three meals a day, and some have more or less. For example, the emperors of the Qing Dynasty usually only ate two meals a day, namely breakfast and dinner.
The royal family claimed to be alone and ate by themselves when eating. They eat alone at a special table, which is called "eating alone". Although the emperor likes a person to eat, but not a person when eating, there will be a eunuch beside to serve-> waiter eunuch. Because there are too many dishes, the tables are full, and the dishes in the distance can't be reached when eating. But don't worry, when the emperor eats, he doesn't have to pick up the food himself. The eunuch will send it to his mouth.
When the emperor dines, besides eunuchs, there will be courtiers and princes standing by. The emperor doesn't want to eat, or he is happy for a while, and more often he can't finish eating, so he will enjoy the meal. The rewarded person can only eat standing in front of a separate dining table. Because it was rewarded by the emperor, even if you don't want to eat, you have to eat, and you have to say "delicious".
The early emperors had bands to entertain them at dinner, but later emperors only used music at birthdays or celebration banquets. However, putting on airs while eating was carried forward until the late Qing Dynasty.
Puyi, the last emperor of the Qing Dynasty, said this in his autobiography "My First Half Life"-there is a set of technical terms about the emperor's eating, and there is absolutely no mistake. Rice is called "rice" instead of "rice", rice is called "rice", rice is called "rice" and the kitchen is called "chef". When it was time to eat-there was no fixed time, it was entirely up to the emperor-I ordered "Pass the rice!" "The little eunuch in front of him said the same thing to the eunuch in the temple of Ming Cheng." Pass the rice! The eunuchs in the temple passed it on to the eunuchs outside Yangxin Gate, and also to the eunuchs in the royal kitchen in Xichangjie. "。 This has reached the chef. Before the echo disappeared, a team like a dowry had walked out of the royal kitchen. This is a team of dozens of well-dressed eunuchs, carrying seven dining tables and holding dozens of red paint boxes with golden dragons on them, heading straight for hall of mental cultivation. When he entered the Ming Hall, the little eunuch with sleeves took over and stood in the East Nuange. There are two tables of dishes on weekdays and a hot pot in winter. Besides, there are three tables of snacks, rice, porridge and a small table of pickles.
The so-called "play" is not the genealogy of the northeast people, but the menu. The standard imperial meals in Qing dynasty, each meal 120 dishes, should set three tables. In addition, there are staple foods, snacks, fruits and so on. Later, some emperors thought it was too wasteful.
Spectrum reduction, 120 channel reduced to 64 channels; During the Xianfeng period when Empress Dowager Cixi's husband became emperor, it was reduced to 32. After Yi's death, the number of Queen Mother Ci 'an who listened to the government was reduced to 24. After the death of Empress Ci 'an, Empress Dowager Cixi, who had all the power, put on a show again and restored the old rule that every meal should cost at least 200 taels of silver.
Another layer means that the emperor puts on airs when eating, that is, what is the name of each dish and who cooked it, and it must be clearly marked on the side of the plate. One is to ensure the quality of food and show cooking skills; Second, if there is a quality problem with food, it is also convenient to investigate by asking questions such as toxicity. Today's high-end hotels will do the same. I wonder if I learned it from the royal family.
Tips for poisoning in defensive diet
The emperor's tableware is also exquisite, mainly gold and silver, and even ceramic products are of high quality. Among them, golden bowls, dishes, plates and other utensils can best reflect the royal style, so the royal family likes the "golden rice bowl". If you use other utensils to hold rice, it will make the host angry.
The imperial system of the emperor shunzhi in the Qing Dynasty revealed the abolition of Queen Bolzigit from the very beginning. One of the reasons is that she is "extravagant" and "when she tastes food, there is a person who is not gold but not happy".
Besides gold, silverware also occupies a large proportion in the emperor's tableware. For example, in the twenty-first year of Qianlong (A.D. 1756), the tableware recorded in the bottom file of gold, silver and jade articles in the imperial dining hall was as follows-
1 gold spoon, 1 gold spoon, 1 gold fork, 1 chopsticks with gold teeth, 2 silver western-style hot water kettles, 23 covered silver hot pots, 6 covered small silver hot pots, 10 uncovered silver hot pots, 6544. 4 pieces, silver spinners, 24 pieces of warm bowls with silver covers, 6 pieces of silver bowls with silver covers, 5 pieces of silver bell covers, 2 pieces of silver carved bowl covers, 2 pieces of silver spoons, 13 pieces of silver spoons, 1 piece of semi-black lacquer gourd, 6 pieces of silver bowls, 1 piece of silver barrel, and gold-inlaid teeth. 10 Shuang Mu chopsticks, 3 pieces of Korean cloth, 1 piece of white spinning, 1 piece of black lacquer gourd, 2 pieces of 7-inch endothelial bowls, 2 pieces of 5-inch endothelial bowls, 10 piece of silver-inlaid Lippi tea bowl, 1 piece of silver-inlaid 5-inch leather bowl, 3 inches and 6 cents silver. 10 pieces of silver-inlaid lippi dishes, 6 pieces of silver-inlaid cups, 10 pieces of 3-inch plates, Hanyu-inlaid rosewood silver spoons, silk silver spoons, 2 pieces of silk silver forks, 2 pairs of silk silver chopsticks, 48 pieces of silver-inlaid gourd bowls, and 16 pieces of silver-inlaid red paint bowls.
As can be seen from this file, most of the tableware used by Qianlong is silverware. If the royal family likes gold, it is to show style and nobility, while using silverware has many practical functions.
In the history of China, there were many cases in which emperors were poisoned by tampering with food. According to the record of "Zi Tong Zhi Jian", Sima Zhong, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, "was poisoned by eating cakes and fell in Xianyang Hall in the afternoon". Therefore, in order to ensure food safety, the royal family once
There are usually two methods. One is to let others taste the food before the emperor eats it. This task is often the duty of eunuchs who serve food, and it is called "tasting food". If it is poisonous, the emperor can avoid the danger of death. Third, silverware is a common tool for drug testing before meals.
In the past, a small silver medal was hung on the outside of the utensils for holding imperial meals in the Qing palace. After the lid is lifted, the eunuch will put the silver medal in the soup and try it in front of the emperor. Puyi confirmed this, "Every dish or bowl has a silver medal, in order to > guard against poisoning."
It turns out that if it is poisonous, the silver medal will turn black immediately. Modern science has proved that this method is simple and effective. Because silver will react with sulfide to produce black silver sulfide. Poisons commonly used in the past, such as arsenic (arsenic trioxide >:), often contain sulfide when extracted, so the silver toxicity test is very effective.
The emperors of Qing Dynasty liked to eat ducks.
There used to be a legend that human milk was used to cook for the emperor, and there was even a wild story that the emperor ate a living brain. However, judging from the imperial diet spectrum of Ming and Qing dynasties, there is no such thing. However, it is an indisputable fact that imperial cuisine is more exquisite. What are the royal dishes? There are many varieties, but they are generally inseparable from pigs, sheep, chickens, ducks and fish. The key is that there are many stresses in practice.
Take the imperial cuisine of the Qing Dynasty as an example. According to the archives of the Qing Palace, the daily duties of the emperor are-
22 kg of vegetable meat, 5 kg of soup meat, lard 1 kg, 2 sheep, 5 chickens, 3 ducks, Chinese cabbage 19 kg, spinach, parsley, celery, leek, 60 radishes, melon 1 kg, and wax gourd respectively. 6 kg of kohlrabi and water spinach, 6 kg of onion, 3 kg of clear sauce, 2 kg of vinegar, and 4 Liang of yuquan wine.
8 cakes in the morning and evening, 30 cakes each (4 kg of top-grade white flour, sesame oil 1 kg, 5 tablespoons of sesame seeds 1 kg, 3 pieces of sand mud, sugar, walnut kernels and black dates 12), and 50 cows for the imperial tea room. Each cow produces 2 kilograms of milk every day, and Yuquan water is 654302. Can, EC 1 kg, 75 packs of tea (2 taels per pack).
This example cost 50 taels of silver at that time, which was 65438+8250 taels a year. If you add the expenses of festivals and festive activities, it is common to eat tens of thousands of silver a year.
Emperors of the Qing Dynasty all liked Nanjing people-they liked to eat ducks, and ducks were always indispensable in every imperial meal. In the fifty-third year of Qianlong (A.D. 1788), on the seventh day of July, breakfast in Qianlong included stewed duck with wine, duck in soup and steamed duck.
Gan Long likes to eat ducks, and he also eats a famous dish "Duck with Dried Vegetables". According to a big restaurant, when Gan Long went to Jiangnan, he heard that the ducks in the water town were delicious, so he planned to try them early. It's almost noon, and I'm worried. The cook is so anxious that even the duck feathers are >: What should I do if I can't pull them clean? The cook can also fool, and conveniently sprinkled a handful of dried black vegetables and covered the duck feathers with the light duck. Who would have thought that they used to eat palace flavor at ordinary times, and they felt fresh when they changed their mouth, praising the delicious taste. Because the emperor loves to eat, a famous dish has just been cooked. This legend is not credible. This may be made up by the restaurant, but it shows that Gan Long likes to eat ducks.
For another example, Empress Dowager Cixi's daily imperial meals include braised duck, braised duck, roast duck, duck tongue, duck paw, duck gizzard, duck liver and duck intestines, which she likes to eat.
Puyi, the last emperor, copied a rough list of Xuantong's four years in February in the book My First Half Life. At that time, Puyi was only 7 years old, but she ate nearly 30 dishes for breakfast, including three fresh ducks, fried sea cucumber with duck strips and diced duck with Gexianmi.
Because Cixi likes to eat ducks, someone has made good luck. Xiao, a famous eunuch in the late Qing Dynasty, is one of them. The reason why Zhang Xiaode can become a red man in front of Cixi can be found out because he is good at making a dish that Cixi likes to eat-stewed duck strips.
Wen Baotian, who had been in the imperial dining hall of the Qing Palace, recalled-
Because he can cook several dishes that Cixi likes, and he has always been loyal, Cixi ordered him to take the position of "case owner" in Shoushan Restaurant. He cooks several of his specialties every day, such as stewed duck strips, fried dried blue bean curd, fried carrot sauce, fried cucumber sauce and so on. For Cixi to eat. Because he is famous for his ruthless beating, he won the trust of Cixi and thought that "accommodation is important". It is not safe to have such a "loyal and reliable" person to supervise everything, so he became an important figure in Cixi's mind. Needless to say, when she was in the palace, that is, when Cixi lived in the Summer Palace, she always ordered him to live in the south yard of Renshou Hall, specializing in diet.
In addition, the chefs of the imperial chefs in the Qing Dynasty were also good at cooking ducks. For example, stewed and steamed duck, which Cixi likes to eat, is washed, eviscerated, put into a porcelain jar and cooked with slow fire for two days to make the duck crisp and rotten. Stew for three days, depilate and steam in a crucible for three days. Goldfish duck's paw is unique. First, put the duck's paw in the pot, boil it in clear water for 15 minutes, and take it out when it is seven-ripe, remove the bones and hard calluses in the palm, then add the spices and Flos Magnoliae, and cook it together, which is refreshing and delicious.
Why did the Qing emperors like to eat ducks? It is still a mystery. It is said that duck meat can clear the fire and calm the air, such as the effect of stewed duck strips, and the menu will indicate nourishing, clearing away heat, constipation, strengthening the spleen and appetizing. Have some duck, will you?
Just can "fire". Of course, the emperor likes to eat ducks for different reasons. For example, Cixi, who likes to eat ducks, may think more about "reinforcing deficiency for health". It is said that she still has hidden dangers of convenience, and it is also possible to "regulate constipation".